Composite louver slats for jalousie windows



Nov. 19, 1963 o. BERARD 3,110,936

COMPOSITE LOUVER SLATS FOR JALOUSIE WINDOWS Filed Jan. 26. 1961 Fig. 5

Inventor MXM Attorneys United States Patent 3,110,936 COMPOSITE LOUVERSLA'IS FOR JALOUSKE WINDGWS Oreste Berard, 6 Corso Armellini, Genoa,Italy Filed Ian. 26, 1961, Ser. No. 85,123 Claims priority, applicationItaly Nov. 14, 1960 4 Claims. (Cl. 20-42) This invention relates tolouver slats and particularly to composite hollow louver slats ofplastic material particularly adapted for use in jalousie windowsprovided with means for angularly adjusting the louver slats, which maybe rocked from a sloping position in which they admit air and light,while excluding sun and rain, to a substantially vertical position inwhich the adjoining louver boards contact with each other across theiredges, thus forming a practically impervious panel or curtain.

Up-todate louver slats for jalousie Windows were solid and made of wood,glass or metal and were fastened to the jalousie window jambs eitherdirectly (in case of fixed louver slats), or by means of rockable clips.Metallic louvers are not adapted for use on home jalousies, particularlyin hot climate countries, wood louver slats are subjected to warping,when they are not encased at their ends and glass louver slats arerather expensive, as they must be edged by grinding and polishing andfurthermore, they are breakable and usually admit too much light.

Also hollow slats of extruded plastic material have been used in rollerblinds, but the design of these slats is not adapted for jalousiewindows and, furthermore, the attachment of said hollow slats to thewindow jambs would require the use of specially designed fasteningmeans.

An object of the invention is to provide a composite louver including alouver board of extruded hollow plastic material and two side fittingsadapted to be tongued or doweled into the hollow of the louver board andprovided at their outside ends with substantially straight tonguesadapted to be fastened like the usual solid louvers, usually glasslouvers, by using commercial clips of standard design.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a composite louverslat comprising a hollow flat bar section made of plastic material andadapted to be fitted to commercial angular adjusting clips, thuspermitting of replacing at will, completely or in part, the usuallouvers made of glass or any other material and permitting of obtaininga substantially tight closure by rocking the louvers into edge-to-edgeposition, without need of expensive grinding and polishing of theplastic louver edges.

The above and other objects and advantages of the composite louveraccording to the invention will be apparent from the followingspecification.

In the annexed drawings, forming part of the specification:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a jalousie window provided with aknown type of angularly adjustable louver clips which have beenlouvered, with the exception of the lower clip, with hollow louverboards according to the invention said louvers being rocked to closedposition;

FIG. 2 is a section like that shown in FIGURE 1, but with the louverboards in open position;

FIG. 3 shows in plan view one end of a hollow louver board and avertical section through the same louver board;

FIG. 4 shows two edge views and a plan view of an end fitting formingpart of a composite louver; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of one end section of a composite louver accordingto the invention.

With reference to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, by the referencenumeral 10 are indicated the jambs of a frame of a conventional jalousiewindow provided with louver clips 6 fastened to one end of rockinglevers 7 the other end of which is hinged to an actuator bar 8 to beactuated, for example through link 9 by conventional means, as the handcrank shown in FIGURE 1.

As shown in the lower part of FIGURES 1 and 2, the clips 6 are usuallyconstructed for holding relatively thin and straight solid louver boardsor glass louver edges, so that they are not adapted to mount muchthicker hollow slats of extruded plastic material, as usually employedin modern roller blinds.

Now, the use of hollow extruded slats of plastic material as louvers ofjalousie windows is rended possible by attaching to each end of suitablyshaped hollow slats or louver boards B cut to prescribed length,preferably an end fitting L, FIG. 4, comprising central solid bodyhaving the same section as the louver boards B and provided at one sidewith protruding tongues or dowels D adapted to be fitted into thecorresponding hollow ends of the louver boards B, FIG. 3, and at theopposite side with a protruding edge E, FIG. 4, adapted to be snuglyinserted into the conventional clips 6, FIGURES 1 and 2, instead of theusual solid louvers of wood, glass or other material.

Also the fitting L may be made of suitable plastic material, such asvinyl material, and preferably of the same material as the louver boardsB.

The louver boards B and the central body of the fittings L arepreferably slightly bent in S shape, and are provided with halvedhorizontal edges I and H respectively, which, when the louvers arerocked to closed position (FIGURE 1) abut against like halved edges ofadjoining louvers and provide a substantially tight joint.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the improved composite louverscomprising hollow louver boards B provided with end fittings 4,according to the invention, not only may be manufactured at low cost andprovide a good heat insulation, but may easily replace, wheneverrequired, conventional glass or wood louvers and, due to the elasticityof the plastic material in correspondence of the relatively thin halvededges H, J, and to the presence of a stepped part between the louverbody and their edges, ensure a better tight closure when the louvers arerocked to closed position.

I claim:

1. A jalousie window comprising a sash having a pair of jambs, a numberof pairs of spaced conventional clips rockably mounted on said jambs andadapted to clamp conventional, thin flat and solid louver slats, meansfor simultaneously rocking said clips from an inclined position to asubstantially vertical position in which the ends of said clips comesubstantially into contact with adjoining clips, a plurality ofcomposite slats, each comprising a hollow rigid slat body of plasticmaterial having an overall thickness greater than that of said clips, apair of projecting adaptor members removably pressed into the hollowends of said slat body, said adaptor members each including a centralsection conforming in shape and thickness to and extending and closingthe end of said slat body, at least one dowel at oneside of the centralsection snugly fitted into the hollow end of the slat body, and asubstantially fiat end tongue on the other side of the central sectionhaving a thickness considerably less than the thickness of said slatbody and substantially equal to that of said clips, said flat endtongues of said pair of adaptor members fitting into and being clampedby a pair of said rockable clips, whereby said composite louver slatsare replaceably held by said clips without the use of additionalfastening means and without altering said clips when conventional solidlouver slats are replaced by said hollow slats.

2. A jalousie window according to claim 1 wherein both longitudinal edgeportions of each of said slat bodies are of reduced thickness.

3. A jalousie window according to claim 1 wherein said central sectionof the said adaptor members and said hollow slat body have slightlycurved S-shape in end profile.

4. A jalousie window according to claim 1 wherein 4 each of said hollowslat bodies at each end is provided with at least one internal bracingmember connecting opposed Walls of the slat body and forming with thewalls of said slat body a recess in the end of the slat body, saidrecess snugly receiving said dowel on the cooperating adaptor member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS287,712 Page Oct. 30, 1883 1,551,753 Lane Sept. 1, 1925 1,872,599 LeGrand Aug. 16, 1932 2,174,249 Pratt Sept. 26, 1939 2,207,147 GilbertsonJuly 9, 1940 2,310,086 Howard Feb. 2, 1943 2,575,004 Condron Nov. 13,1951 2,580,621 Vicksell Jan. 1, 1952 2,641,465 Snow June 9, 19533,031,013 Russell Apr. 24, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,227,973 France Mar. 7,1960

1. A JALOUSIE WINDOW COMPRISING A SASH HAVING A PAIR OF JAMBS, A NUMBEROF PAIRS OF SPACED CONVENTIONAL CLIPS ROCKABLY MOUNTED ON SAID JAMBS ANDADAPTED TO CLAMP CONVENTIONAL, THIN FLAT AND SOLID LOUVER SLATS, MEANSFOR SIMULTANEOUSLY ROCKING SAID CLIPS FROM AN INCLINED POSITION TO ASUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL POSITION IN WHICH THE ENDS OF SAID CLIPS COMESUBSTANTIALLY INTO CONTACT WITH ADJOINING CLIPS, A PLURALITY OFCOMPOSITE SLATS, EACH COMPRISING A HOLLOW RIGID SLAT BODY OF PLASTICMATERIAL HAVING AN OVERALL THICKNESS GREATER THAN THAT OF SAID CLIPS, APAIR OF PROJECTING ADAPTOR MEMBERS REMOVABLY PRESSED INTO THE HOLLOWENDS OF SAID SLAT BODY, SAID ADAPTOR MEMBERS EACH INCLUDING A CENTRALSECTION CONFORMING IN SHAPE AND THICKNESS TO AND EXTENDING AND CLOSINGTHE END OF SAID SLAT BODY, AT LEAST ONE DOWEL AT ONE SIDE OF THE CENTRALSECTION SNUGLY FITTED INTO THE HOLLOW END OF THE SLAT BODY, AND ASUBSTANTIALLY FLAT END TONGUE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CENTRAL SECTIONHAVING A THICKNESS CONSIDERABLY LESS THAN THE THICKNESS OF SAID SLATBODY AND SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THAT OF SAID CLIPS, SAID FLAT ENDTONGUES OF SAID PAIR OF ADAPTOR MEMBERS FITTING INTO AND BEING CLAMPEDBY A PAIR OF SAID ROCKABLE CLIPS, WHEREBY SAID COMPOSITE LOUVER SLATSARE REPLACEABLY HELD BY SAID CLIPS WITHOUT THE USE OF ADDITIONALFASTENING MEANS AND WITHOUT ALTERING SAID CLIPS WHEN CONVENTIONAL SOLIDLOUVER SLATS ARE REPLACED BY SAID HOLLOW SLATS.